Useless Noise: SEO and the Dirty Web

By Gabriella Sannino on September 13, 2010

I love SEO. I really do. I enjoy every nook, cranny, get-your-hands-dirty aspect of it. What I don’t enjoy, however, is how people use and abuse it to get to the top. Now, granted, some people have no real understanding of how SEO and, specifically, content writing work together. They can be excused from this particular class. Naivety and lack of knowledge is a legitimate reason for improper SEO.

The issue then becomes a matter for those who know better: aka, the optimizers, professional content writers, business owners that have actually learned SEO. You know whom you are, hiding in your dark little corners, Mr. Keyword Commenter. Give us a name, people – add your keyword and link as the signature for the comment, not as who you are. This is only one aspect of what you’ve done. You’re dirtying up the Web, which millions of others happen to enjoy, with useless noise. Stop it!

Copywriter on the War Path

Look, I understand the need for content. I know it can be hard to come up with something new, original and/or inspiring when you have umpteen articles to get out and no time; but, really, people – article spinners? You think these computerized, non-human – with no understanding of sentence structure, grammar or readability – article compilers can build an article worth reading?

It sounds great, in theory. You get this program, enter your keyword and, in two minutes or less, you have a fresh, new, original article with which to propagate the Web. Ummm… Do you bother to read them before you put them out?

For article writing programs like this, what you end up with are several sentences, usually unrelated to those around them, with the keyword thrown in. Here’s an example from real life, for those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about…

“You can fix things before you feel uncomfortable during the event at your home page disturbed by people passing through your house… You can do it to keep your privacy. Not only mines the limit, but also you can plant a few trees to produce instant a beautiful yard. This will be fun when you can do many things in the house behind you or in your yard. You can plan where you will start to make your privacy divider mines.”

I refuse to give them a link. If you want to read more, copy/paste this address into your browser: http://www.jzcfcc.com/2010/04/29/get-screened-before-planting-trees/

Sludge Under the Sink

It’s useless noise. This isn’t SEO; it’s a crime. The stuff you’re posting on the Internet is worse than my four year old would write, and she can barely spell. The bad part is you’re dipping into every industry with hundreds of these articles and blogs that make no sense, do no good and offer no value. You know that skuzzy sludge under the sink? That’s your articles – the skuzzy sludge of the Internet.

If you’re doing this because you can’t keep up with client demands Ms. Optimizer, Mr. Content Writer, I (most humbly, of course) suggest you cut back on clients. Charge more for your services and see who sticks around. If you don’t have a reason for this cruelty to other Web users and it’s just your methodology, shame on you. You’re giving SEO a bad name.

You say, “There should be no standards or guidelines.” You say, “You’re just whining because we beat you out.” You say, “It’s a dog eat dog world and I’m hungry.”

I say stuff it where the sun don’t shine. Go sell your crude, snake oil crap elsewhere; I gave at the office. I’ll take honest work, good business ethics and giving clients results that actually do something over a quick buck any day.

To those looking at or currently paying for SEO services like these, let me remind you of something. You want traffic, right? That’s why you’re looking at SEO. Don’t you want traffic interested in what you have to sell, or do you just like to look at pretty numbers unconnected to your bank account?

This… junk… will not get you what you want. Not only are these people dirtying up the Web, but also, if you let them put these articles out to link to your brand, you’re a co-conspirator in ruining your brand recognition. So much for building trust: for me (and, remember, I’m not just an SEO, I’m a consumer, too), seeing this stuff turns me away from a brand.

What’s the point? If you’re going to stuff something, stuff yourself, because keyword stuffed, spun articles are useless noise. They aren’t diamonds in the rough; they aren’t even coal. They’re garbage.

Just Have Some Respect

People, take the time to write something meaningful – or at the very least, engaging. Give us, the users of the Web, something we can sink our proverbial teeth into; I’m sure I speak for a large majority of Internet users when I say we’re more likely to respond to great content – or even a fluff piece! – than to babble.

Lastly, if you run across these so-called “articles” and think, “Oh, more of that crappy SEO”, I kindly ask you to rethink and get those words out of your head. SEO is not mutually exclusive to junk articles. SEO is full of much more than content writing, and much of the content writing on the Web (at least for businesses) was touched by one optimizer or another. You can count on it.

All I can say here is “WOW”.Take the words right out of my mouth, improve, embellish and post away why don’t you? 🙂This ranks way up there in the top 5 of my favorite SEO rants ever.Well done Gabriella.